Sarah Lawrence College

Sarah Lawrence College opened in 1926 when philanthropist William Van Duzer Lawrence established it in Bronxville, a quiet village 16 miles north of Manhattan, naming it for his wife and modeling its tutorials after Oxford and Cambridge. What sets it apart is its rejection of traditional departments and majors in favor of student-driven concentrations across humanities, social sciences, and performing arts. Creative, self-motivated students who crave one-on-one guidance flourish here amid a close-knit community of about 1,600 undergraduates, while those seeking structure or breadth in STEM might feel constrained by the small scale and focus on individualized work.